


Thunder and Lightning

by rotation (myneuronarrative)



Category: Pajama Sam (Video Games), Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Family, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-09-02 18:21:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20249623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myneuronarrative/pseuds/rotation
Summary: Eight-year-old Steven and his family comfort a scared friend of his.





	Thunder and Lightning

It was during a sleepover with his friend, Steven Universe, that Sam had a nightmare. The Crystal Gems came back from a late-night mission, and they found eight-year-old Steven wrapping a blanket around his friend of the same age. Greg was also there, and he gave the boys a mug of hot chocolate each. It rained hard outside, so much so that it splashed against the window in large drops.

“Sam, what’s wrong?” Pearl asked.

“He had a bad dream,” Steven said. “I told Dad, and he made us melted chocolate.”

“It’s called hot chocolate, kiddo,” Greg said.

“But doesn’t it require melting chocolate?”

“That is true. Ahh, heck. You call it whatever you want, little buddy.”

“I feel really dumb,” Sam said sadly.

“Aww, don’t say that, little guy,” Amethyst said, taking Sam by the hand and leading him to the couch. Greg and Steven followed suit. “Everyone has bad dreams sometimes, even cute blue boys like you.”

Sam blushed. “Thank you, Amethyst. You’re really nice.”

Amethyst batted her eyelashes at Pearl and Garnet. “Hear that? He thinks I’m nice.”

“I’m nice, too,” Pearl said, rolling her eyes.

“You’re not dumb for having a nightmare, Sam,” Garnet said. “It happens to the best of us.”

“But I thought Crystal Gems didn’t need sleep?”

“I do!” Steven said, waving his hand excitedly. Then, he put it back down. “Sometimes, when I can’t sleep, the Gems will talk to me until I do.”

“I normally like to read him books,” Greg said, “but I gotta admit, the way these Gems can talk him down after a bad dream is incredible.”

“My mom does that sometimes,” Sam said. “Whenever I have a bad dream, she’ll tell me why what I’m afraid of can’t hurt me.”

“What did you dream about specifically?” Steven asked.

Sam went quiet, looking down at his mug. “I’m scared of the thunder and lightning outside.”

At the right time, a flash of light and a loud thunderclap echoed throughout Beach City. Sam whimpered, and Greg set his mug down on the table so Sam could cover his ears. Steven hugged his friend while Garnet petted his head.

“I wish I were brave,” Sam said.

“I think you’re brave!” Steven said, releasing him. “Just a month ago, you got over your fear of the dark.”

“That is true.”

“I think only a brave person could do that.”

“What Steven is trying to say,” Greg said, “is that fear is natural and part of growing up.”

“I don’t feel grown-up, though. I feel small, like a little ant.”

“There are blue ants?” Amethyst giggled as Pearl swatted at her.

“Why can’t I be a Crystal Gem?” Sam asked. “Crystal Gems are brave all the time!”

“Oh, Sam,” Pearl giggled and knelt in front of the child. “That’s not always true. Even brave space warriors get scared sometimes.”

“But it seems so fun being a space warrior!” Sam crossed his arms and sighed. “I’m just a kid.”

“I dunno,” Amethyst said. “I think both are kinda overrated. You know what I would prefer to be?” Amethyst shrunk down in size and drove across the coffee table, wiping her windshield. “A tiny car!”

Sam still looked crestfallen.

Amethyst honked her horn. “Hey! You can’t be sad when I’m a tiny car! That’s, like, against the rules!”

“Off the table, Amethyst.” Garnet flicked her off of the table, and Amethyst resumed her normal shape, tumbling across the floor and hitting the wall.

“Ugh, sorry,” Amethyst said with a sidelong glance. “I was just trying to help.”

“Hey, Sam,” Greg said, ignoring Amethyst’s shapeshifting. “What does your mother usually tell you when you’re afraid?”

Sam scratched his head, thinking about it deeply. “When I told her that I was afraid of the dark, she said that my closet was the Land of Darkness and that Darkness wouldn’t hurt me. He just doesn’t have a friend, so he watches me while I sleep.”

Amethyst made a quiet remark about that being creepy.

“Why would she tell you that?” Pearl asked.

“Because I told her that I thought there were monsters in my closet,” Sam said. “We even checked it to make sure. I’m not sure if I fully believe it yet.”

Steven giggled. “Well, can’t we go up in the sky to check on Thunder and Lightning?”

Pearl glanced nervously at Garnet. “Well, theoretically, we _could_, but—“

“I’m afraid that’s not an option, boys,” Garnet said.

“Awww,” Sam and Steven said.

“But we can pretend that we can.”

“Garnet?” Pearl whispered. “Where are you going with this?”

“Steven wants to teach Sam what a thunderstorm is,” Garnet said, “so we’re bringing it to him.”

Steven’s eyes were alight with stars. “Storytime!”

“Okay,” Greg said supportively. “So, how do you suppose we do this?”

“Let’s all get in a circle and let Sam and Steven share their thoughts on the matter.”

Everyone formed a circle on the ground. Garnet patted her hand against the empty spot between her and Greg. Sam and Steven took big drinks of their hot chocolate before sitting down with everyone.

“Okay!” Steven said. “Who should be Thunder and Lightning?”

“Can you be Thunder, Garnet?” Sam asked. “Your hair is fluffy like a cloud, and you have a cool voice. I think Thunder should have a cool voice.”

Garnet smiled, and her visor flashed. “At your service, Sam.”

“Pearl can be Lightning!” Steven said, pointing at her. “She looks like a lightning bolt!”

“I do not!” Pearl fussed. Amethyst shapeshifted into a hand mirror and turned towards Pearl’s direction. Pearl groaned at the laughing reflection. “Fine, I concede.”

“Great!” Steven said.

“What do I get to be, Steverino?” Greg asked.

“Hmm.” Steven thought long and hard. “You can be…the ambiance.”

“Ambiance?”

“Yeah, the pleasant background!”

“Oh,” Greg laughed diminutively.

“Okay, so!” Steven clapped his hands. “What would you do if you met Thunder and Lightning, Sam?”

“I would tell them to stop with the thunder-storming business!” Sam said proudly.

“But you can’t,” Garnet said.

“What?”

“Garnet, no fair!” Steven said.

“She’s right, Steven,” Pearl said. “Weather can be a nasty business, but it’s all in a day’s work for Mother Nature!”

“It is?” Sam asked.

“Rain is necessary for the plants on Earth to sustain life,” Garnet said. “Everything in the world needs water.”

“Even a car battery?”

Garnet chuckled. “Perhaps not. But every living thing needs water, or else life ceases to be.”

“That sounds scary.”

“Weather and nature can be scary,” Pearl said. “But so long as you take the natural precautions and stay inside while a thunderstorm commences, you should be safe.”

“You make a good point.”

“Work?” Steven said to himself. Then, he beamed. “Work!”

“Why are you yelling, Steven?” Pearl asked.

“You guys work at a factory!”

“Huh?” Sam turned to Steven. “What do you mean?”

“There’s a place in the sky,” Steven said as he motioned his hand above him. “It’s called World Wide Weather. That’s where Mother Nature’s workers get together and work on the weather here on Earth.”

“Hey, that sounds like something my mom would say!”

Greg hopped in. “Yeah! It’s a building that rests on a bunch of clouds in the sky. There’s a rain section, a sun section, and an indoor building where people work on particular aspects of weather like snow.”

“Oooo,” Sam and Steven said.

“There’s a machine that powers everything there!” Greg said. “You can slide down slides, open cans of the sun, take home bottles of rainwater, watch ice cubes transform into snowflakes, and make your own weather!”

“Can I suggest my own weather?” Sam asked.

“Sure, little buddy’s buddy. What’s that?”

“What about…” Everyone leaned in as Sam spoke. “Cherry-flavored rain!”

Greg, Steven, and Amethyst thought fondly of the idea. Garnet did not dispute it, and Pearl cringed at the thought of something edible.

“I like this factory,” Sam said. “I wish I could go there.”

“Maybe you and Steven can write a story about this,” Greg said.

“Yes!” Pearl said. “It can be like one of those comic books your friend keeps bringing over.”

“You mean my Pajama Man comics?”

Garnet nodded.

“Wow, that would be great!” Sam said.

“Can I throw in a story suggestion?” Amethyst asked while raising her hand. “Have something really bad happen, like you accidentally press a red button with your butt and all of the parts go haywire!”

“Why would a factory have that kind of setting?” Pearl mumbled to herself.

“That’s a really good idea, Amethyst!” Steven said.

“Just doing my job.”

The storm outside continued, and the sound of the rain calmed Sam and Steven. They both yawned.

“Looks like you two are finally tuckered out,” Greg said.

“Thank you for the talk, everyone,” Sam said. “This made me feel better.”

Pearl and Garnet nodded. Amethyst smiled and reached over to pat his head. Greg hugged his son with one arm. As the Crystal Gems rinsed the cups in the sink and Greg led the two boys to bed, Sam took his red blanket and tied it around his neck, brandishing it like a cape.

“So that I feel like a superhero in the morning,” Sam said.

“I think you’re a real hero,” Steven said admirably.

Greg tucked both of them into bed and told them goodnight. He left to go back to his van, and the Crystal Gems went into their rooms through the single door. When everyone left, Sam got up and looked at Steven, who was already sinking into a peaceful sleep. He took another blanket and tied it around Steven’s neck.

“So that you feel like a superhero, too,” Sam whispered before going to sleep.

Steven smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the amazing crossover artwork by FilmmakerJ on deviantART: https://www.deviantart.com/filmmakerj/art/Pajama-Sam-Universe-563996478
> 
> Pajama Sam is my favorite game series by Humongous Entertainment. Steven Universe is also my favorite children’s cartoon. I really like the idea of a crossover between the two, so I wanted to write something lighthearted, like Sam having a nightmare and Steven trying to cheer him up. I’ve been going through a lot lately, so I wanted to write something light and happy to cheer myself up.
> 
> I hope you enjoy! Thank you again to FilmmakerJ for his awesome work, and I plan on also writing a piece based on his Pajama Sam-Coraline crossover. Take care!


End file.
